Original Research

Burnout among Saudi board residents: comparison between Family Medicine and Internal Medicine

Authors: Hussam Muhammed Alfaleh.

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The current study was performed to compare the prevalence of burnout in family medicine and internal medicine residents and to reveal the risk predictors of high burnout.
Methods: It is a cross sectional, analytical study. 130 family and internal medicine residents were given Maslach Burnout Inventory to assess the mean score and prevalence of three domains of burnout i.e. emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal achievement. Chi-Square and t-test were used to analyze the prevalence and mean scores respectively.
Results: Mean scores of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal achievement were 16.55 and 17.15, 15.42 and 9.15, 24.83 and 29.80 respectively. Depersonalization and personal achievement scores were high among family residents. 75% of family medicine participants and only 20% of internal medicine participants had a high level of depersonalization burnout (p = 0.001).
Conclusions: Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal achievement burnout were found at an alarmingly high rate among family medicine and internal medicine residents. Mean scores and prevalence of depersonalization and personal achievement burnout were significantly higher among family medicine residents than internal medicine residents.